League 1 next season.

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I think we are destined to be in League 1 next season.
We will/could lose Bury,Rochdale,Oldham,Wigan,Blackburn,Scunthorpe.
Hopefully the teams coming up/down will give the League a less of a Northern bias.
Top 3 atm in League 2, Luton,Notts County,Coventry,with the chance of Wycombe,Mansfield,Lincoln or god forbid the scum,joing them.
Birmingham and Burton are in the bottom 3 alongside Sunderland,who i know are a northern team,but it will be a big game home and away.
Qpr and Reading (oh please god) are in awful form atm.
So all in all League 1 should be a far better experience next season,with teams bringing more fans and creating a better atmosphere.

Active member

I had a look at this the other day, we should lose a couple of trips up the M6 at the very least and gain a couple of local games. It's definitely affected the atmosphere a bit this season, being mid table in a league with not many 'local' games and no real rivalries, coupled with doing nothing in the main two cups has led to very few big games to look forward to, its all felt a bit flat.

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Junior Member

'Losing' the players we have alongside Mapp has destroyed a team that potentially could have given us a proper 'team to be proud of' - and of which could have achieved promotion and more 'Giant killing' in the cups.
The Chairman was behind all this, and it's no coincidence that his seeming loss of interest and drive in the project has seen the standard of football drop alarmingly -due in no small measure to Eales deserting his business model and recruiting policy.
Our hopes have been raised with rumours of a take over, and since dashed, and now Eales has spoken of signing younger players with the potential to develop and be sold on. No wonder everything, including the atmosphere around the club has gone flat, and there's the mystery over 'flag gate' and the disappearance of the so called Ultras to stew over. Not a clue where the club is going, or of DE's intentions, just hope that winning a couple of games isn't just papering over the cracks. We as fans need clarity, we need to see ambition from the man at the top, and we deserve a stadium fit for purpose, if DE cannot deliver then he might have to sell up and move on.

Active member

'Losing' the players we have alongside Mapp has destroyed a team that potentially could have given us a proper 'team to be proud of' - and of which could have achieved promotion and more 'Giant killing' in the cups.
The Chairman was behind all this, and it's no coincidence that his seeming loss of interest and drive in the project has seen the standard of football drop alarmingly -due in no small measure to Eales deserting his business model and recruiting policy.
Our hopes have been raised with rumours of a take over, and since dashed, and now Eales has spoken of signing younger players with the potential to develop and be sold on. No wonder everything, including the atmosphere around the club has gone flat, and there's the mystery over 'flag gate' and the disappearance of the so called Ultras to stew over. Not a clue where the club is going, or of DE's intentions, just hope that winning a couple of games isn't just papering over the cracks. We as fans need clarity, we need to see ambition from the man at the top, and we deserve a stadium fit for purpose, if DE cannot deliver then he might have to sell up and move on.

Even with the model in place that everyone was enjoying we never got anywhere near promotion (auto) and then you always have the players always looking to move on or being scouted by bigger clubs..As has now been seen others caught on and did similar and the market got very over inflated (except as always when we are selling ) with many clubs all looking in the same area for new players..As i've often repeated it's a massive risk expecting/hoping that the conveyor belt will keep churning them out and you can afford/get them.

Over previous years we heard about 5 year plans to reach the championship but were these truly thought out or just words to string the fans along? those that were in charge certainly could not fund it and the one who could had other agendas. Our current owner has given it a bloody good go with our best manager for many a year but as stated above we still fell a long way short and then the reality has sunk in of the vast amount of funds needed to be in the higher league.

Past owners could not understand that to many fans Charlton in the cup was not a big attraction and now we've gone full circle of seemingly not being too bothered about the domestic cups and setting our stall out for the tin pot trophy that attracts 20.000 extra fans that most never attend home matches where funds are needed.
Regular fans appeared to prefer days out to Boro and wembley to turning out to see the 2 top sides in the league even when we had some chance of a play off place.

The bread and butter customer has had to swallow a price increase at the time when the standard on the pitch has dropped again yet the 20.000 can still cling on to their hope of another day out without the need to even think/want to attend another game. Meanwhile those bread and butter customers will be thought about again come July time, now where have we heard all that before!!!!!!!

Active member

Vs. budget available we are on target for an "expected" season. Reading between the lines, Mr Eales doesnt want extra fans in the stadium as OUFC Ltd makes no extra income from concessions, thus higher season ticket prices. I have always felt this was always going to be a transitional season after Mapp etc.

Well-known member

Would love Reading Swindon Luton QPR and Birmingham come into this league. Seasons been quite dull because we've not played that nice a style of football and we've had little amount of games to look forward too

If those 5 teams came into the league aswell as Charlton missing out on play offs ,Northampton and MK both somehow surviving aswell as Bristol Rovers who should finish around us. We'll have some fairly local and exciting games. That'll be atleast 10 away days to look forward to next season, including a hopefully better Blackpool Bonanza.

We'll be saying bye to some trips up north aswell with Rochdale Bury and Oldham all struggling. Atleast 2 of them will be dropped down and won't have to go up there for Wigan or Blackburn so that's atleast 4 trips up north off the list.

Well-known member

Would love Reading Swindon Luton QPR and Birmingham come into this league. Seasons been quite dull because we've not played that nice a style of football and we've had little amount of games to look forward too

If those 5 teams came into the league aswell as Charlton missing out on play offs ,Northampton and MK both somehow surviving aswell as Bristol Rovers who should finish around us. We'll have some fairly local and exciting games. That'll be atleast 10 away days to look forward to next season, including a hopefully better Blackpool Bonanza.

We'll be saying bye to some trips up north aswell with Rochdale Bury and Oldham all struggling. Atleast 2 of them will be dropped down and won't have to go up there for Wigan or Blackburn so that's atleast 4 trips up north off the list.

Active member

Would love Reading Swindon Luton QPR and Birmingham come into this league. Seasons been quite dull because we've not played that nice a style of football and we've had little amount of games to look forward too

If those 5 teams came into the league aswell as Charlton missing out on play offs ,Northampton and MK both somehow surviving aswell as Bristol Rovers who should finish around us. We'll have some fairly local and exciting games. That'll be atleast 10 away days to look forward to next season, including a hopefully better Blackpool Bonanza.

We'll be saying bye to some trips up north aswell with Rochdale Bury and Oldham all struggling. Atleast 2 of them will be dropped down and won't have to go up there for Wigan or Blackburn so that's atleast 4 trips up north off the list.

Active member

No - obviously we aren't 'safe'. But it would take a pretty catastrophic collapse in form from us, plus an upturn from quite a lot of poor sides for us to go down. Add in that we are quite capable of winning a match here and there (hopefully starting on Saturday) despite having a slightly odd squad of players and I am fairly confident that we will end up being safe.

Active member

Nobody is saying that but 'only' 9 points?That is a hell of a gap. The sides in the bottom 5 average more or less a point a game (on the basis that after 27 games they are pretty poor teams) . So to make up that 9 points will probably take the bottom 4-5, 9 games. That is the perspective. On the basis that we have 6 points in 3 games in 2018 so far, who on earth would seriously think that we could go down (barring a catastrophe)
We are closer to the play offs than we are to relegation ....

Well-known member

Nobody is saying that but 'only' 9 points?That is a hell of a gap. The sides in the bottom 5 average more or less a point a game (on the basis that after 27 games they are pretty poor teams) . So to make up that 9 points will probably take the bottom 4-5, 9 games. That is the perspective. On the basis that we have 6 points in 3 games in 2018 so far, who on earth would seriously think that we could go down (barring a catastrophe)
We are closer to the play offs than we are to relegation ....